A Different Universe
by PandaMajesty
Summary: One Piece, with a twist. A new crew member has joined the Strawhat pirates after their adventure on Fishman Island. The crew has their Captain, Swordsman, Navigator, Sniper, Chef, Doctor, Archaeologist, Shipwright, and Musician. What they didn't have was a Wordsmith. Someone to capture their adventures into words, if only for herself to read.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or it's story, but I do own my OC.  
Any type of feedback is appreciated.

* * *

"Mama?!" A young child's voice rang out through the small house. Storm grey eyes peered out the window looking at a Bass fishman friend waving her down.

"Torto wants me to come out and play. Can I?" The girl's voice continued, moving away from the window to a familiar half water-filled kitchen where she was sure to find her mother. She was there, chopping up something to be a part of their dinner later. They were having stew.

The woman in the water was a mermaid, like her daughter. Her tail was that of a Blue Ring Angel Fish; a dirty yellow background with neon blue rounded stripes winding down to meet with magnificent white, at the base where tail meets fin, to a very light blue flayed at the bottom with only the tiniest line of yellow around the edge to match that of her tail above. Along with being mermaids, they also shared the brightest red hair the sea had ever seen. The child thought that looked pretty on her mother, not her.

"Only if you wear your sweatshirt," she said as the only condition for her to play. As young as the child was, she had to keep a secret that worried her mother to no end. In addition to her own phosphorescent tail, she had useless wings growing on her back. At her age they were small and developing, easily hidden by a coat or sweatshirt. It was the future her mother was concerned about. Her daughter was something that shouldn't be living, with physically existing traits from two species. Having anyone discovering this and taking her daughter from her wasn't something she wanted to imagine.

The innocent child agreed with her mother and grabbed a sweatshirt. She pulled it over her head before going out with a signature water tube around her waist; mermaids needing such to 'walk' over dry land.

…

With a wave of goodbye to an exhausted Torto, the girl entered her home before the first sign of mimicked nighttime approached. A surprise awaited her in the common room, a face she hadn't seen in a while.

"Papa," she squealed and raced into the man's outstretched arms. Her father was a human- a Birkan Skypiean he called himself along with the word pirate. They said pirates were bad, but she denied those claims in her head as her father wasn't bad at all. The rare times he visited were always full of laughter. He would tell her about his adventures as well as discuss anything new she has written in her writing journals- for observations and stories- as they ate together, like a normal happy family, and stayed up with her until she fell asleep.

The child woke up when she heard a thud and a curse, followed by hushing and the creaking of floorboards being quietly propped from their settings. Being the curious child she was, she went to spy on what was happening.

Three men, including her father, were opening the wooden floor next to the pool that was their kitchen. The child couldn't make out what they were whispering to each other. Something about a safe place, fruit, and secret. She couldn't understand why a fruit needed to be a secret. What the child did understand was that whatever fruit was in the small box set off to the side, on a chair. Something in her wanted to see what was in the box, if it was a fruit or gold. Maybe it was the pirate's blood.

Red hair flickered into the room and towards the ceiling when all the men had been preoccupied. Keeping silent was easy. She shifted her way slowly towards the other side of the room and dropped down behind the chair the box sat upon. As much as she would dislike admitting to herself later in life, but her father and his crewmates weren't the most sensitive pirates. They couldn't detect a small thief opening the unlocked box and taking out its treasure.

She retreated back to her room the same way she had come. In the hall she could hear the faint thud of the box entering the hole and the relieved grunts of putting the floor boards back where they were. None of their crew had wanted to be cursed, no matter what the great prize they would receive, and now they thought the future threat was safe.

On her cushioned, shell bed grey eyes could finally observe what she had taken- the spoils of her first act of theft. It was a fruit, she had heard correctly, but it was strange. It was like a frozen ball of fire, flame tendrils lifting up its side, unmoving. The skin of the fruit had a swirl pattern and was light blue in color. She set the fruit aside as she pulled out a notebook where she would write her adventure from that night while it was still fresh in her mind and add a sketch of the fruit. After, she pushed the fruit under her pillow and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 1: The Meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or it's story, but I do own my OC, Alice/Ali.  
Any type of feedback is appreciated.

Legend: _Character's Thoughts_ **Powered Words**

* * *

The world had quieted down. Fishman Island was saved thanks to the Strawhats. Pirates were their heroes, as strange as that sounds. An interesting opportunity has arisen.

_Alice. You're going to write their story._

Determined gray eyes stared into their mirror image before glancing around at her empty home. A place full of memories, soon to be abandoned. It would be a lie to say she wouldn't miss the place. She was. Deeply. But her future wasn't there, not on Fishman Island. She wanted to explore, to write about places she could only dream of. Mysterious settings needed mysterious characters. The Strawhats were perfect.

She floated a few steps away from her dresser, steeling herself for what she was about to do. Her tail and wings had made her a freak- an abomination. Now, she was going to make a choice to end her secret. Surprisingly, it was easy. She wasn't going to be able to swim ever again.

"**My vibrant mermaid tail becomes human legs**." There was a power in the words she spoke. A power she had struggled to retain as a child. As a result, she had stopped talking altogether- becoming a selective mute, not wanting to hurt anyone by her words. It had started after she ate a bite of that disgusting fireball fruit. A devil's fruit, she had found out as she had grew older.

Her mind was brought back from her past to reality due to a pain in her tail, making her flinch. She didn't think it was going to be painless and she was right. The blue bristled fins at her side were the first to go, sinking into her scales. Her orange and neon light blue pattern was twisting with her scales as her fin began to shrink.

Nothing was as painful as what happened next. Her actual tail began to rip open, splitting into the two legs she spoke of. Searing pain shot into her nerves. Little black dots appeared in her vision. She screamed. She closed her eyes and hoped it would end soon.

...

In the end she was laying on her floor, panting. Her eyes scanned down to look at her new legs- human legs. It was a good thing she specified that or else she might have ended up with something other than what she wanted. Her power was funny like that.

Alice tested the new bodily parts, making sure they worked before trying to stand up. Humans and Fishmen make it look so easy. She had to use her table to even think of standing on her feet. Her FEET. She wasn't a freak anymore. At least not that she was going to tell. She still had those bent wings- Birkan wings, from her father's side. That was fine with her, even if they were useless.

…

Hours passed before she got the hang of her legs and could walk a short distance. She felt like her whole body was weighing her down, so much different than floating around when she still had her tail. At least she had dressed herself, having bought pants from Criminal that went nicely with her plain pale yellow top. Now that she was dressed the part, she picked up a pack full of her essentials. It was time to go.

…

Finding the ship was easy. She didn't relax until she had found a way on it and in what she thought was a safe place. The room had a bed opposite a chair and desk. On the desk and above it were notes and some pictures. She was in their medical room. Alice sat on the bed, her legs thanking her after all that walking, and waited.

…

Eventually she could hear bustling outside. Voices; excited, sad, joyful. The ship began to move and didn't get far before it lurched. She went from the bed to the floor and it was going to take some time trying to get back up again. Having legs was harder than it looked.

The ship was moving again and she couldn't contain the urge to see what they were up to. She left the infirmary to enter the dining room/kitchen. It was steady walking across the room, careful with each step so as not to trip. There was an electrified buzz in the air. She reached the other side and opened the door without bothering to look through the porthole.

"To the New World! Let's go! To the final seas!" The Strawhats were celebrating going to the most dangerous part of the ocean. She had been right, they were interesting indeed. Alice was enjoying the moment as much as they were (minus the jumping, her skills weren't quite there yet). Their excitement slowed to a normal pace when one pair of eyes detected her; the green haired swordsman.

Soon all eyes were looking straight at her. Cheeks flushed at being the center of attention.

_Of all things,_ this_ is the first impression you're giving them?!_

Now she had to find the words to explain herself, without letting them get the best of her.


	3. Chapter 2: Call Me Ali

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or it's story, but I do own my OC, Alice/Ali.  
Any type of feedback is appreciated.

* * *

Luffy was the first to spring into action, quite literally. She had heard he was a rubber man and seeing him stretch his arms, grasping the banisters, to propel his entire body over to her direction was fascinating.

"Red!" He exclaimed during the flight. Luffy was referring to her red hair, tried up in a bun on her head, not her cooling cheeks. Her hair reminded him of Shanks, though hers wasn't a deep red like his but rather a red like the petals of an Anemone flower. The captain hadn't even notice the wings until he was close up. A Skypiean, with red hair, and that had somehow gotten her way onto his ship. She could swear his eyes were glittering, the invite was making its way from mind to mouth as slender hands shoved him out of the way.

"What are you doing Luffy?!" Orange hair. Must be Cat thief Nami. "Can't you see you're scaring her?" He wasn't, but it was a good a chance as any to slip her eyes to the other crew members.

"My angel~!" Came Blackleg Sanji's voice, slithering his way towards her. The skeleton said something about seeing her panties. Alice didn't know what those were. Nami kicked them both down before they made it far.

"She doesn't need that from either of you." Finally, she turned towards the newcomer and asked the question all of them were thinking. "What's your name?"

To respond, Alice took out her notebook from her pack, opened to a blank page and wrote in elegant handwriting, 'Alice. Call me Ali.' (Al-ee)

Sanji said something about a beautiful name, but it was the swordsman whose words she heard. "She can't speak?"

"Or doesn't want to," Robin chimed in, ever the wise one. Ali would swear the sparkle in the captain's eyes increased. He saw her like she saw him, a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

'I want to join your crew,' she wrote down and showed it to them.

"You do know we're pirates, right?" Nami's voice stuck out among other conversations which struck up. They had come from an underwater Island which thought of them as heroes. Nami thought the girl was getting them confused.

'I know.' Ali didn't care about whether they were pirates or heroes. They were the best and most interesting to write about.

"We don't take weaklings." Zoro's voice of course.

'I'm not weak.' She was, physically, but she wanted to change that and she had her own unique power. He looked skeptical.

Between what others were trying to ask her (Did she like sweets?) and the decision of keeping her around, it was concluded that they couldn't throw an innocent looking girl out to be with the Sea Kings. She was staying, but only until they reached the surface and could get her to land. Not what she wanted, but she had time to change their mind.

…

Everything changed tempo after that when they all went their separate ways. Nami headed off, followed by the small doctor, the skeleton, and cook. Ali settled on a railing and before long Luffy was telling Usopp to hurry as he messed with rope and a couple of hooks. They were talking about catching a deep sea fish for food.

That was amazing. Alice has never seen someone catch one. Her lips curled into an amused smile as she observed their actions, pen and paper at the ready to jot down everything.

Before she could realize, Luffy shot a Jet Pistol into the ocean and smacked one of the large fishies. Zoro complained about their captain only wanting to try the fish with mayonnaise. Ali could see how that could be delicious.

Usopp threw the hooks/rope combination, catching the fish by the lips. No one saw the larger deep sea fish eat the hooked one until it had disappeared into it's mouth. The boat tugged along with the fish, making Ali hold on tight. Suddenly, another immensely enormous fish engulfed the newer fish on the hook.

The ship swayed underwater in a grand manner. Ali held on as to not be knocked off of her spot on the railing. She kept her utensils close. They were important to her. She would wish she had risked falling when Zoro had unleashed one of his specialties, "Single Sword Style: 360 Round Cannon."

She could see the wound's effect on the other side of the fish. Powerful. Incredible. The red haired girl was definitely impressed. The stories about the Strawhat crew had some truth in them. Happiness brewed from most of the members until a white stream streaked through the ocean.

"Wait…" Robin noticed something that struck her as familiar. "Could that be… The White Storm!" She described the thing as a dragon-like whirlpool that was extremely dangerous and only appeared at the bottom of the sea.

Images of a pure white dragon danced through Ali's mind, riding it to her next destination and beyond. She was lost in her thoughts because before long, Nami was hurrying outside to assess the situation. She was surprised when the other female appeared by her side, hands hitting the banister as she yelled at the crew to get away.

Nami reminded Ali of a chastising mother, ever looking after her mischievous children. Amusements never end. She complained about the overly large fish being dragged into the white dragon, slowly bringing them along. The children looked absolutely devastated as she suggested they lose their new food.

Franky was given an order by Nami to use his Coup de Burst to get them away, but it was too late. They were being sucked into the whirlpool. Ali held on for dear life to the railing, screaming- a mix of being scared and that adventure's excitement in her heart.

The ship somehow escaped the dragon's claws and slowed in a different part of the ocean. All around the ship were ginormous whales. They were beautiful.

The skeleton, Brook, began to talk about a Laboon as if he had found a long lost friend. However, he was assured that wasn't the case, at least not yet. Alice wondered about that story as she wandered next to the reindeer named Chopper at the edge of the ship.

Usopp tried to calm down Brooks as Sanji took attendance. He only counted the woman. When her name was called, Ali raised her hand automatically and turned to face him. He had already put his words and sights on what Nami said to do next. She decreed to let the ship go along with the whales' water current.

Brook set his sights on talking to the whales. He told them if there were any relatives, to not worry about a calf they lost fifty years ago. Now Ali had a timeline, or the beginning of one. She jotted that down.

The music he began to play made the girl lift her head up. She knew he had been some sort of star. Ali could hear that professionalism in the way he played with ease. It was a nice song and the whales seemed to agree as they began to lift the ship from the bottom.

…

The ship broke the surface of the sea along with the whales surrounding them. It was a view Alice could never imagine seeing before she slipped onto the ship. The sky was dark with only lightning making the contours of the clouds known with each bolt. Everyone had their comments about their breakthrough. Alice's heart was alight with the thought of an adventure and future of her own- No. Not her own anymore. It was a future she wanted to make with the chaotic people around her.

Ali could agree with Luffy's statement, "Perfect!"


End file.
